Greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generated by offshore wind farms

For wind power generation offshore sites offer significantly better wind conditions compared to onshore. At the same time, the demand for raw materials and therefore the related environmental impacts increase due to technically more demanding wind energy converters and additional components (e.g. substructure) for the balance of plant. Additionally, due to environmental concerns offshore wind farms will be sited farshore (i.e. in deep water) in the future having a significant impact on the operation and maintenance efforts (O&M). Against this background the goal of this analysis is an assessment of the specific GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions as a function of the site conditions, the wind mill technology and the O&M necessities. Therefore, a representative offshore wind farm is defined and subjected to a detailed LCA (life cycle assessment). Based on parameter variations and modifications within the technical and logistical system, promising configurations regarding GHG emissions are determined for different site conditions. Results show, that all parameters related to the energy yield have a distinctive impact on the specific GHG emissions, whereas the distance to shore and the water depth affect the results marginally. By utilizing the given improvement potentials GHG emissions of electricity from offshore wind farms are comparable to those achieved onshore. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.